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Ordinance committee advances one-year extension for grant-writing contractor pending spending data
Summary
The Lawrence City ordinance committee voted Nov. 12 to forward a one-year extension for the Resource Development Team to the full council with a favorable recommendation, conditioned on staff providing how much of the roughly $14.6 million in grant awards has been spent for intended purposes.
The Ordinance Intergovernmental Relations Committee on Nov. 12 voted to send a one‑year extension of the Resource Development Team contract to the full Lawrence City Council with a favorable recommendation, pending staff data about how grant funds have been spent.
Chair Mark LaPlain said the committee needed a concise accounting of outcomes tied to the grants the contractor works on before final approval. "I'm very curious as to how much of the money from the grants have been successfully spent for the purposes of the grant," LaPlain said, calling for percentages on the roughly $14.6 million cited in committee discussion.
City staff told the committee the Resource Development Team provides grant writing and had produced a list of funded grants, but did not have a full expenditure breakdown at the meeting. A staff presenter said the contract had previously been two years, was extended once for a third year, and the requested action would extend it to a fourth year to continue grant‑writing services.
Councilor Gabriel Del Rosario pressed staff on contract oversight and timing, asking why the extension was on the agenda after the contract’s Oct. 31 expiration and whether department staff were monitoring expirations. City staff said they had not previously handled a contract longer than three years and acknowledged the lapse, committing to provide the requested procurement and spending information to the committee.
Vice Chair Selena Reyes moved, and the motion was seconded, to send document 04/3625 up to the full council with a favorable recommendation contingent on the committee receiving the grant‑spending percentages. The clerk recorded unanimous roll‑call votes in favor; the motion carried.
The committee requested the item return with the requested data at the next meeting. No final contract payment or extension was approved at the Nov. 12 meeting; the committee’s action was a recommendation to the full council.
